October 31, 2017

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is scheduled to reduce
its energy use, which constitutes 14 per cent of the country’s total energy
consumption, by half in early 2019, according to officials.

The goal of cutting down 50 million kilowatt hours per year is
expected to be attained within 15 months, according to ministry’s officials,
who noted that it will be achieved after a multi-million-dollar project to
rehabilitate the country’s main pumping stations and a number of well fields is
completed.

Under the 10-million-dollar project, pumps and electric
equipment at the stations will be replaced with energy-efficient systems.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times, Minister of
Water and Irrigation Hazem Al Nasser said that energy-efficient systems will be
installed to reduce 7 per cent of Water Authority of Jordan’s (WAJ) electricity
use, thus saving JD5 million annually under the current electricity tariff.

“The project’s consultant is now preparing the studies and
blueprints to rehabilitate the pumping stations in the capital, the northern
governorates, Zarqa, Balqa, Karak and Tafileh,” Al Naser said.

The project is funded by a loan from the German Development
Bank (KfW), an official at the ministry said on Wednesday, indicating that it
comes as part of a broader programme to raise energy efficiency in the water
sector.

“The wider programme that targets all water treatment
plants, pumping stations and wells is worth 32 million euros. A 26million-euro
loan from the KfW is funding the programme, in addition to 6 million euros from
WAJ,” the official told The Jordan Times over the phone.

The initiative is among several projects to expand the water
sector’s shift to renewable energy and improve its energy efficiency.

In 2015, the ministry announced its Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Policy for the Jordanian Water Sector. The policy seeks to
achieve a 15 per cent reduction in energy consumption of billed water by the
year 2025, corresponding to a 0.46 kilogramme reduction of carbon dioxide emissions
for the production of each billed cubic metre of water.

According to the 2013 Annual Report of the Ministry of
Energy and Mineral Resources, power requirements in 2013 for water pumping
alone amounted to about 14 per cent of the country’s total power production,
with a total amount of 1,424 gigawatt hours.

Given that the water sector is highly subsidised, the Water
Ministry’s total energy bill paid in 2013 amounted to JD100 million, according
to the policy.

Assuming that current operational patterns are sustained,
real power costs for water pumping are estimated to amount to JD640 million by
the year 2025, the policy said.